Prostatitis

Prostatitis is a condition of the prostate gland, which may or may not involve bacterial infection or inflammation. There are 5 main types of prostatitis and most of the conditions cause pain. They are:
1. Acute bacterial prostatitis
2. Chronic bacterial prostatitis
3. Inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome (nonbacterial prostatitis)
4. Non-inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome (Prostatodynia) 
5. Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis

Causes of prostatitis
Acute and chronic Prostatitis are caused by bacteria infecting the prostate. Both can occur alone or with a urinary tract infection and are not contagious. Inflammatory and inflammatory chronic pelvic syndrome are the more common forms of prostatitis. While the causes for these non-bacterial syndromes are not clear, non inflammatory may be due to muscles spasms along the pelvic floor or other factors rather than to actual prostate disease. Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis is an inflammation which does not cause pain. 

Symptoms
The symptoms are similar for all forms of prostatitis, with the exception of acute bacterial prostatitis in which the symptoms are sudden and severe and may include fever, chills, and other signs of infection.

The symptoms for other prostatitis may include:

• Pain or burning sensation during urination and on or after ejaculation.

• A strong and frequent urge to urinate without being able to pass much urine.

• Difficulty starting urination, interrupted flow and dribbling after urinating.

• Excessive urinating at night.

• Cloudy urine or blood in the urine (occasionally).

• A sensation of not completely emptying the bladder.

• Lower back, abdominal, or perineal pain.

• Joint or muscle pain

Treatment
In order to prescribe the correct treatment, your doctor needs to know whether bacteria are present in your prostatic fluid and your urine. Two tests are helpful in identifying the presence of bacteria: a urinalysis and an analysis of a sample of prostatic fluid, which may be obtained by pushing on the prostate during the digital rectal examination. Treatment for the bacterial prostatitis is given by antibiotics, pain and fever medication, stool softeners, fluids, and rest. Infected prostate stones often make the infection more difficult to cure. If present, they may need to be surgically removed. Surgical removal of the prostate (prostatectomy) may be considered as a cure for chronic bacterial prostatitis if it doesn't respond to long-term antibiotic treatment. For inflammatory and non inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome, muscle relaxants (if muscle spasms are causing pain while urinating) or other treatments may be helpful.